The menu choices are grouped into the following groups:
The Plug-ins dialog.
This entry launches the plug-in manangement
dialog. Plug-ins are programs which are separate from
Gnumeric but provide useful
functionality. Some of the core parts of gnumeric, such as
Excel file format support, are actually plugins. This means
that a user who never uses Excel files can remove this
module from Gnumeric and make
Gnumeric use less memory.
Automatic tools
These two tools allow the user to make
Gnumeric automatically correct
typing or automatically save workbooks at periodic
intervals.
Auto Correct... --- The
Auto Correct... menu item opens a
dialog which allows the user to configure the way in which
gnumeric automatically corrects text which is being entered. The
dialog presents the user with three tabs. Each of these tabs allows
the user to correct one type of common spelling mistake, while
allowing the user to add exceptions to the rules. Gnumeric can
automatically caplitalize the names of week days. Gnumeric can
automatically change an entry which starts with two capital
letters to only start with one and Gnumeric can change a sentence
entry to start with a capital letter.
Auto Save --- The
Auto Save menu item opens a dialog
which allows the user to have Gnumeric automatically save the
current workbook after a fixed interval of time. The user can also
have Gnumeric ask for confirmation before saving so that the user
always remains aware of the state the workbook was in when it was
saved.
Linear Programming tools
Gnumeric can be used to
solve systems of linear equations and other mathematical
problems. These two dialogs enable access to these tools. A
full discussion of these tools is presented in Section 13.1.
Goal Seek --- The
Goal Seek menu item opens a dialog
through which the user can configure Gnumeric to iteratively
search for a numeric value which solves a formula. This dialog is
explained in Section 13.2.
Solver --- The
Solver menu item opens a dialog through
which the user can configure Gnumeric to solve linear systems of
equations. This is explained in Section 13.1.
Statistics and other Data Analsyis tools
Statistical analysis can easily be done with
Gnumeric. All the statistical
tools are explained in Chapter 14.